You could argue that 2009 hasn't been quite on par with previous years in gaming. With an army of current-gen sequels under pressure to deliver, and the threat of Modern Warfare 2 looming in November, most big name releases abandoned ship to 2010 - but that doesn't mean we haven't had some stunners in our gaming system of choice.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was a big surprise in the summer, while in the last month we've seen Christmas titans Uncharted 2, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Assassin's Creed II and yes; Modern Warfare 2 all deliver.


The Contenders
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Uncharted 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin's Creed II

The Runners Up
Batman is a masterfully crafted action adventure, but few would put it above the other contenders this year, the same for Nintendo's effort - one of the best DS games ever - Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

We absolutely adored Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed II this year, but in our eyes only one sequel truly blew us - and the entire gaming populous - away...

The Winner: Uncharted 2

What. A. Game. In early 2005 when we waited in wonder of what the 'next-gen' consoles would be capable of, THIS is what we imagined.

Uncharted 2 got rave reviews - several awarding it perfect scores, including us. It follows the template from many tried and tested games - the exploration of Tomb Raider, acrobatics of Prince of Persia, cover-based combat from Gears of War and stealth from Splinter Cell. Yet it manages to significantly raise the bar in each of these areas, amalgamating them all perfectly into one near-flawless work of art.

The voice acting and character interaction is more convincing than we've seen in any other title - finally movie-quality stuff in a videogame. The visual detail and sheer splendour of Uncharted 2's environments still have us stopping Drake in his tracks to admire what Naughty Dog's managed to squeeze out of the PS3 - even on our third play through. And under all of that tech lies a fantastic story with rich characters and some excellent shooting action.

For production values and polish, Uncharted 2 raised the bar for videogames as a whole, no matter the genre. It's a truly stunning game, which is why it gets our vote as the best of 2009.

The winner:
Uncharted 2

Runners Up
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin's Creed II

Your Shout
We've told you ours, now you tell us yours. Stick your top five and overall winner in the comments field below and we'll tell you why you're wrong.